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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30022209">Ice Planet Sleep-Over Night</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sultrybutdamaged/pseuds/sultrybutdamaged'>sultrybutdamaged</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Emotionally Constipated Grown Men, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, No One Likes an Ice Planet, Polyamory Negotiations, Reference to Uhura/Gaila, Sharing a Bed, Sleepy Cuddles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:48:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,477</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30022209</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sultrybutdamaged/pseuds/sultrybutdamaged</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk wants to snuggle.  Nyota wants to sleep.  Spock doesn't know what he wants, which is why they're in this situation in the first place.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James T. Kirk/Spock/Nyota Uhura</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ice Planet Sleep-Over Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is, without question, the most ridiculously fluffy thing I have ever written.</p>
<p>A slightly different version of this fic was posted on Dreamwidth for Week 1 of the FFFC 10 Year Anniversary Fandom Battle.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nyota was almost asleep when a buzz from the door broke into her consciousness.</p>
<p>She waited a minute, eyes still closed.Bridge officers’ quarters on the Enterprise were furnished with extremely comfortable beds, even if they weren’t always large enough, and she was buried under the insulated blanket.After what was supposed to have been a short trip down to the surface to take readings on a newly-discovered planet had turned into a three-day adventure in running from the natives, getting pelted by surprisingly efficient slingshots and huddling in caves through the below-freezing nights, she had no desire to get out from under the covers until her next shift.The ship’s efficient temperature controls didn’t make a difference to the chill that had seeped into her bones.</p>
<p>But the door was still buzzing. </p>
<p>She reluctantly dragged herself out of the dregs of sleep and slid a hand across the bed to pat Spock’s arm.“Door,” she muttered.</p>
<p>Her boyfriend only shifted in his half-sleep, moving to wrap an arm around her.“I heard it,” he said.“But you and I are both off duty, and in an emergency we would be contacted via communicator.Therefore it seems logical that whoever is at the door is lost.Or can wait until morning.”</p>
<p>Nyota snuggled closer in Spock’s arms, partially because it was comfortable there even if neither of them had any energy for more vigorous activity, and partially because she knew the moment wasn’t going to last.She let her eyes slip closed, resting her cheek on Spock’s shoulder and counting down until -</p>
<p>With a sharper buzz, the door slid open.<i>Emergency override activated</i> she heard the computer’s mechanical voice say, and a much more human one answer, “Thanks, now lock doors.”The light from outside Spock’s quarters faded as the door slid closed again.</p>
<p>Once she was sure it was sealed and they were alone, she sighed.“Hi, Jim.”</p>
<p>“Good evening, Nyota.”To a casual ear, the captain’s voice would sound way too perky for a man who’d just spent three days roughing it on a primitive planet with limited supplies, but Nyota was a trained listener and, after two years on this ship, an expert in deciphering the captain’s tones.Kirk sounded exhausted.Still, there was a smirk in his voice as he added, “Hey there, Spock.”</p>
<p>“This is highly irregular and borders on a breach of regulation,” Spock said.Nyota’s eyes were still closed but she could imagine faint lines of exasperation marring his otherwise blank expression as he stared up at the ceiling.There was no tension in his body under hers, though, so she knew his annoyance was a formality.</p>
<p>“First of all, it’s not a breach of regulation - ”</p>
<p>“- to enter a crewmember’s private quarters using an emergency override code - “</p>
<p>“ - how was I supposed to know it wasn’t an emergency?You weren’t answering.Maybe you died in your sleep.”There was a series of thumps as the captain kicked off his boots.</p>
<p>“ - is a violation of regulations, as is a senior officer visiting a subordinate for the purposes of illicit - “</p>
<p>“ - and secondly, how can it be ‘irregular’ when it’s the third time in the last month?Seems pretty regular to me.Damn ice planets.” </p>
<p>The final words were muffled; Nyota peeked through one half-open eye and saw a flash of golden skin as Kirk stripped off his uniform shirts, his back to the bed. </p>
<p>In the academy, gender neutral changing areas were the norm, and thanks to Kirk’s propensity for sleeping with her friends, Nyota had seen plenty of his bare skin over the years.Which had probably been the universe preparing her for this future, she thought wryly, when she would get to witness him sleeping with her boyfriend.</p>
<p>Just sleeping, for now, though Nyota had no doubt that would change in the future.</p>
<p>She reluctantly pushed herself up on one elbow - reluctant because her body still hadn’t convinced itself that it didn’t need to huddle with the nearest person to conserve heat, not because she really minded this odd arrangement they’d fallen into.But that was the game they were for some reason still playing.Spock watched the captain as much as he watched her when they were all on the bridge, but alone he pretended that Kirk brought him nothing but vexation; Kirk worked <i>hard</i> at that vexation, with both of them; Nyota bantered back, her barbs softened from what they’d been when they were all younger back on Earth but still edged with thorns, and privately tried to work out how they could all fit together without destroying the peace of the ship.</p>
<p>She was too tired for that tonight, though, and she knew the men were too.“Just let him stay, Spock,” she said, and gave Kirk a resigned smile.“Promise you aren’t here for anything illicit and I think maybe we could fudge regulations this one time.”</p>
<p>“Third time,” Spock reminded them, but he was already shifting in the bed, moving away from her.</p>
<p>“Promise,” Kirk said, grinning at her over Spock’s shoulder.“Just sleep.” </p>
<p>And then he dropped his pants, reminding her of how little he wore to bed, even after a near-miss with hypothermia. </p>
<p>She dragged herself away from Spock, rolling to the other end of the bed so that Kirk could climb up beneath the blankets and settle down between them.Immediately the presence of another warm-blooded humanoid brought the temperature up to almost-satisfactory levels.Kirk settled on his back between them, shoulders brushing Spock’s, though he kept a careful distance from her.The man she’d known back at the academy wouldn’t have done that, or maybe she hadn’t known him as well as she’d thought. </p>
<p>“This is nice,” he said, loudly.Now that he’d interrupted their sleep, he sounded wide-awake, though Nyota still wasn’t fooled.She suspected the captain had trouble sleeping, but their relationship hadn’t progressed to the point where she could ask, or just borrow a sedative from McCoy and jab him.</p>
<p>“I’m pleased that you find the arrangement satisfactory,” Spock said, in that tone that was sarcasm for him, though few would have been able to detect any emotion at all.“Now perhaps we could all continue with our night’s rest?If that is convenient for you, Captain.”</p>
<p>Jim turned his head deliberately away from Spock.“I think we’re wearing him down,” he said in a stage-whisper.His face was only a few inches from Nyota’s and his eyes were very blue even in the dim light.He gave her a boyish grin, but she could read something else more serious beneath it.</p>
<p><i>“This is physically agonizing for me, but I’m going to have to ask you to sleep with my boyfriend,”</i> she’d said two months ago, and though it really had almost caused her actual pain, there’s also been a certain glee at the stunned look on Kirk’s face when she’d said it.The man was too used to being the one who caused that reaction in other people. </p>
<p><i>“I am more than satisfied with our relationship, Nyota, and I have no need to seek companionship elsewhere,”</i> was what Spock had said when she’d raised the idea with him a few months before that, albeit in a more round-about and sensitive way. He’d refused to admit what seemed obvious to her:that he and Kirk were mad for each other, in the romantic sense, and that if they didn’t find a way to deal with those feelings they were going to make the whole bridge crew mad in the medical sense.It had taken the destruction of his planet, the death of his mother and barely surviving a suicide mission to get Spock to admit that he loved her, and at that point they’d been dating for half a year.Nyota dreaded what kind of crisis it would take for him to admit to being in love with a second person.The man needed an intervention.</p>
<p>So she’d taken it into her own hands and Kirk had responded with a very satisfying <i>“B-b- wha?”</i></p>
<p><i>“You.Spock.Deal with each other.”</i> There had been a lot more, including a very awkward moment where she’d had to explain to the man who was, technically, her commanding officer, even if he didn’t go in for much formality and got twitchy when anyone else in the crew tried it, that her relationship hadn’t been exclusive back on Earth - “<i>Gaila?”</i> he’d squawked, his face an alarming shade of red - and that it only was here because no one else had interested her and Spock preferred monogamy because it was logical.Or so he claimed.</p>
<p><i>“This has been enlightening,” </i>he’d said faintly when she finally left him alone to think about it.And then, as she’d been stepping out the door of his quarters, <i>“This arrangement is just for Spock and me?”</i></p>
<p>He’d given her a half-smile and a raised eyebrow and Nyota… had not blushed, because she didn’t, ever, but maybe she’d had a little more understanding of all those friends who’d succumbed to his charms.A <i>very</i> little.</p>
<p>A week later, the sleepovers had started.</p>
<p>He had a similar look on his face now.Nyota smiled back.“Good night, Jim,” she said pointedly, and rolled over, putting her back to both of them.</p>
<p>“Night, Nyota,” he murmured.</p>
<p>The room fell silent, but the bed continued to bounce beneath her as Kirk did his nighttime squirming routine, wiggling around and kicking at the blankets.Nyota waited, finding herself feeling an odd sort of anticipation as Kirk shifted and grumbled under his breath and -</p>
<p>“Lie still.”Spock’s voice, the low murmur she only heard in the privacy of these quarters, cut through all the movement.Its soothing purr immediately caused the tension in Nyota’s neck and shoulders to ease, and she could only imagine what it did to Jim. </p>
<p>“I’m cold,” Jim said, whining a little.</p>
<p>“The temperature in this room is adequate to - “</p>
<p>“Spock.”It was like his captain voice, but poutier.“You know you owe me.”</p>
<p>Spock sighed, an endearingly human sound.“I hardly think - “</p>
<p>“You stranded me on an ice planet.”Nyota grinned to herself.They went through this every time.</p>
<p>“In a sufficiently equipped escape pod - “</p>
<p>“I almost got eaten <i>twice</i> -</p>
<p>“ - which, if you hadn’t chosen to abandon it, would have provided both warmth and safety - “</p>
<p>“I could have frozen to death.I’m <i>traumatized</i>.I still have nightmares about it whenever we go to an ice planet, Spock, and it’s been three this month.”</p>
<p>Spock sighed again.Nyota knew that Jim considered the whole Delta Vega incident a hilarious joke, considering how events had worked out, and Spock knew that perfectly well.Still, he <i>did</i> feel guilty, and she could sense the moment he gave in and rolled over, curling up against Kirk’s back.“Is this helpful?”</p>
<p>“Not warm enough.”</p>
<p>She couldn’t see it, of course, but she’d watched the first time and she could picture it now.Spock moving closer, aligning himself so their bodies were spooned together, one leg draw up to weave between Kirk’s feet, an arm curling around his middle to pull him back into Spock’s chest.He shifted his head so his face was free of Kirk’s hair, and Nyota was sure he didn’t realize the way he nuzzled in, breathing deeply.</p>
<p>“Better?”His voice was lower that time.Nyota wondered if he remembered she was there.Oddly, she was sure Kirk did.</p>
<p>“Much,” the captain said in a satisfied tone.“G’night.”</p>
<p>“Goodnight, C - Jim.” </p>
<p>The room finally fell silent, and still.And Nyota couldn’t sleep.</p>
<p>She wasn’t cold.She knew she wasn’t, but she felt it.For three days, she’d slept in frozen caves, barely paying attention to which of her fellow crewmembers she was shoulder-to-shoulder with, and now - now there was no need and yet her skin felt raw and this bed that had been too small when there were two was now inexplicably large.</p>
<p>She tried to slow her breathing, making herself focus.<i>Sleep.You have a shift in seven hours. </i></p>
<p>“Oh for fuck’s sake.”Nyota started as a hand grabbed the back of her nightgown and tugged.She raised her head, twisting around to glare at Kirk.</p>
<p>He was lying in Spock’s arms, golden skin against pale, looking ridiculously comfortable and content except for the exasperated expression on his face.“Would you come here?” he said.</p>
<p>“What? No, I - ”</p>
<p>“Nyota.”Kirk tilted his head, watching her.Behind him, Spock appeared to be asleep.His face was buried in the crook between Jim’s shoulder and neck, far more intimately than the last time they’d done this a few weeks earlier.“Come on.You were on the ice planet today, too.Cuddles all around.”</p>
<p>“I don’t have ice planet trauma,” she said dryly.</p>
<p>“No, but didn’t you grow up in a desert?Now come here before I change my mind.”</p>
<p>“Kenya’s not all - oh, fine.”She lowered herself down beside him, pleased when no part of her tensed up as he wrapped his arms around her.</p>
<p>It was… not awful.Nice, even.Kirk was very warm, and he was breathing very slowly, his chest rising against her back, and beyond him she could hear Spock breathing too.It was… peaceful. </p>
<p><i>I could get used to this</i>, she thought, treacherously, and at that moment Kirk moved his foot and she yelped.</p>
<p>“Shhh, you’ll wake up Spock,” he hissed, laughter in his voice and making him shake all along the line of her body.</p>
<p>“Your feet are cold!”</p>
<p>“My everything is cold!”Kirk paused, and she could hear the thought forming.“Well, almost - “</p>
<p>“Shush!”But she was giggling too.This whole thing was absurd.She was being cuddled by her commanding officer, in the bed of her boyfriend, who was in love with them both but was culturally incapable of admitting it, and she didn’t really hate anything about it. </p>
<p>“I like ice planet sleepover nights,” Kirk said drowsily. </p>
<p>“Yeah?”Nyota turned her face into the pillow, smiling.“Do you think they’ll ever be anything more?”</p>
<p>“Hope so.”He sounded like he was almost asleep now.Nyota didn’t think she was meant to hear him murmur “it’s easier to sleep around you guys.”</p>
<p>“It’s not the worst,” she agreed quietly.</p>
<p>“No.”Spock’s hand slid down off Kirk’s side to rest against her hip, familiar and reassuring.His voice was low and oddly gentle.“But it is illogical to continue this discussion of our relative levels of comfort when we have duties to perform in less than seven hours and that is already insufficient time for the two of you to achieve the minimum recommended rest for humans.”He managed to sound protective and scolding all at once.</p>
<p>“You heard the man,” Nyota said, and Jim murmured something that sounded like “aye aye” against her shoulder.</p>
<p>Nyota closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, finally warm.</p>
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